This invention relates to a baseball glove and a method of making the same such that a unitarily formed, molded plastic glove may be achieved.
In the past, conventional baseball gloves have been constructed of leather, traditionally employing hand-stitching, a web portion that was usually fastened by rawhide between the thumb and index finger of the glove, independent finger sockets joined by rawhide lacing, and often with surface padding inserts. Leather gloves have become extremely expensive because of both manufacturing and material costs. The present invention provides a glove made of plastic which is unitarily formed in a molding process, greatly reducing the cost of manufacture while still not detracting from the overall utility or appearance of a leather glove.
Using conventional molding techniques and especially slush molding for example, it is physically impossible to mold directly an article that has the identical form and shape of a conventional leather baseball glove. This is because when molding such a product the spacing between the fingers, the pocket areas in the central interior portion, the webbing between the index finger and thumb, and the overall shape, would require a mold that would not allow the finished molded article to be physically removed from the mold. Thus, using a conventional slush mold, it is obvious that such a molding technique cannot be employed for making an identical baseball glove. Applicant, however, has discovered a way that such a replica of a leather baseball glove can be reproduced using a slush mold technique. This is achieved by first molding a uniquely shaped integrally formed plastic shell which in its original molded form is distorted in shape in preselected areas relative to a finished, completed baseball glove such that the shell after removal from the mold, can be joined along particular seams using joining techniques between fingers and fore finger and thumb to achieve a finished glove having the appearance of a leather glove.
The present invention may be molded in a slush or rotational mold which integrally forms the overall resilient shell of the glove, the shell having a surface design, front and back to ultimately assimilate a leather glove in appearance. After molding and removal, the front and back surfaces of the resilient shell are then glued or welded in the appropriate areas to form the individual fingers and thumb in the glove, the pocket in the front face, and the web.